George Polk

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George Polk
George Polk, circa 1943
Born
George Washington Polk, Jr.[1]

(1913-10-17)October 17, 1913
Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.
Diedca. May 15, 1948(1948-05-15) (aged 34)
Thessaloniki, Greece
OccupationJournalist
Notable creditCBS
SpouseRea Coccins

George Washington Polk, Jr. (October 17, 1913 – May 1948) was an American journalist for CBS who was murdered during the Greek Civil War, in 1948.

Early years

George Washington Polk was born in

Herald Tribune and teaching at New York University.[4][5]

World War II

During

USNR, and consisted of five officers and 118 enlisted personnel, all navy petty officers of aviation support ratings. CUB-1 later received a Presidential Unit Citation for its service.[6] Polk also performed duty as a "volunteer" dive bomber and reconnaissance pilot. He was wounded, suffered from malaria and was hospitalized for almost a year.[7]

Death and aftermath

Polk was found dead near the Port of Thessaloniki on Sunday May 16, 1948, shot at point-blank range in the back of the head, with hands and feet tied.

Polk had been covering the Greek Civil War in Greece between the Greek government and communists trying to seize control of the country. His intention was to meet the military leader of the communists, Markos Vafeiadis, for an interview.

In his articles, he had alleged that a few officials in the Greek government had embezzled $250,000 in foreign aid ($2.5 million in 2016 dollars) from the Truman Administration, a charge that was never proved. Polk, sympathetic to the communists, had been particularly outspoken in his criticism of the Truman government's unqualified support for resistance by the "rightist authoritarian regime" in Greece to the communist attempt to seize power.

In the late 1970s, the story emerged as to how AMAG (American Mission for Aid to Greece) authorities helped the Greek Police frame two young communists for his death. [citation needed]

A communist journalist, Gregorios Staktopoulos, was tried and convicted of helping Vaggelis Vasvanas and Adam Mouzenidis, members of the illegal communist army, commit the murder. The communist guerilla radio station said that Adam Mouzenidis was already dead, having been killed during aerial bombing by the Hellenic Air Force, when Polk was murdered. Staktopoulos himself maintained that the confession that led to his conviction was obtained through torture. In fact, it was later revealed that Mouzenidis had arrived at Salonica, where he was allegedly introduced to Polk, two days after Polk's murder, and Vasvanas was not in Greece at the time. [citation needed]

An investigation by James G. M. Kellis (also known as Killis), a former

Walter Lippman
to investigate the case. Following Kellis' conclusion that it was more likely Polk had been murdered by right-wing groups within or affiliated to the Greek government, the investigation was halted and Kellis recalled to Washington. At the time the US government was financially supporting the Greek government to prevent a communist take-over of the country. The British government had supported the Greek government throughout 1941–1945, but this became a financial impossibility after the war.

Reporters in New York City started a fundraising project to send an independent investigation committee to Greece, and from this effort the Newsmen's Commission was formed. Members included Ernest Hemingway, William Polk (George Polk's brother), William A. Price (Polk's cousin) and Homer Bigart. This was soon eclipsed in media coverage by the Lippmann Committee, consisting mostly of Washington journalists with Walter Lippmann as chairman and James Reston of The New York Times.

Within months of his death, a group of American journalists created the George Polk Awards for outstanding radio or television journalism. These awards were modeled after the Pulitzer Prize which is awarded for outstanding print journalism in newspapers.

Personal life

Polk married Kay Phillips in 1939.

Polk married Rea Coccins (also known as Rhea Kokkonis), a Greek national and ex-

CIA
.

Criticism

In February 2007, Polk's "status as a symbol of journalistic integrity" was challenged by historian Richard Frank, who concluded that Polk made false claims about his service record in World War II. Frank examined the claim, repeated by Edward R. Murrow, that Polk had commanded a unit of 119 marines on Guadalcanal, flew a fighter plane that shot down 11 Japanese aircraft and was awarded a Purple Heart. He concluded that it is not consistent with the available documentation. Frank said that "the inescapable conclusion is that George Polk did not simply verbally recount false tales of his wartime exploits to his family and to his journalist colleagues, he actually forged documents to buttress his stories."[8]

George Polk's brother, William, replied to this attack, which he called slanderous, in a letter to The Guardian March 19, 2007.[9] He pointed out that Frank did not discuss a single article Polk ever wrote and that his military record is amply substantiated in a range of military documents, including a picture of Polk being decorated by Vice-Admiral John McCain on November 30, 1943, on behalf of the "Airplane Cruiser Detachment ... for their heroic role during the Battle for the Solomons."[10]

In April 2007, Frank responded to William Polk's letters and to what he considered a baffling silence from journalists that greeted his charges.[11]

U.S. Postal stamp

On October 5, 2007, the United States Postal Service announced that it would honor five

Rubén Salazar, and Eric Sevareid.[12] Postmaster General Jack Potter announced the stamp series at the Associated Press Managing Editors Meeting in Washington.[citation needed
]

Polk was related to US Presidents

James Knox Polk and Andrew Jackson.[citation needed
]

See also

References

  1. ISBN 978-0-19-860669-7. Archived from the original
    on March 15, 2022. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  2. ^ "George Washington Polk Jr". Historical Rosters Database. Virginia Military Institute archives digital collections. Retrieved September 22, 2023.
  3. ^ "George Polk | UAF Centennial". www.uaf.edu. Retrieved September 22, 2023.
  4. ISSN 0022-5533
    – via Sage.
  5. doi:10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1603284
    . Retrieved September 22, 2023.
  6. ^ "HyperWar: Time of the Aces: Marine Pilots in the Solomons, 1942-1944". www.ibiblio.org. Retrieved September 22, 2023.
  7. ^ "Richard B. Frank : Celebrated Journalist George Polk's Real WW II Record". Historynewsnetwork.org. Retrieved March 4, 2015.
  8. ^ George Polk's Real World War II Record: The fictional career of a famous newsman. Richard B. Frank, Weekly Standard, February 16, 2007
  9. ^ 19.52 EDT (March 19, 2007). "Letters | Media". The Guardian. Media.guardian.co.uk. Retrieved March 4, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ A more detailed reply can be found at http://www.williampolk.com/pdf/2007/open%20letter%20to%20winners%20of%20the%20geo%20polk.pdf
  11. ^ "The Unanswered Case Against George Polk". The Weekly Standard. April 13, 2007. Archived from the original on December 3, 2008. Retrieved March 4, 2015.
  12. The Associated Press (2007). "Stamps Honor Distinguished Journalists". Associated Press. Archived from the original
    on October 30, 2007. Retrieved October 18, 2007.

Further reading

External links
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